Being in hot water is a good thing

Yesterday, a shower was given a prize. Okay, let me explain. Nick Christy's invention for a shower that recycles hot water won the Dutch Postcode Lottery Green Challenge, which netted him $684,000 to refine the invention.

Most of the energy in your hot water system is lost. It's never used.' says Christy. A typical shower uses at least 3 litres of drinking water, and 22-48 percent of the energy used to heat a shower is lost in storing warm water which then goes cold in tanks and pipes within a household.

Christy's idea captures the water from your shower, cleans it, then sends it right back to your shower head (still hot). The whole process takes about 25 seconds.

John Moe is the host of Marketplace Tech Report and handles web content for the program. Every day, he provides an insightful overview of the latest tech news using his witty and approachable style of reporting.